Pumpkins!

Kind of a lot has happened this week, so I'll keep the stories short. For the first time, we went to storytime at the library, Great-Grandma Gisela went with us. It was a good time, and I think we'll make it a regular thing, as regular as we can. The kids were very good and I think they will get a lot out of it with regular attendance. The second thing that we did this week was a big Fiedler family gathering on Friday night (30+ people from Ellen's side of the family). The kids played with a whole bunch of cousins including the two sets of twins. The seven toddlers had a good time playing outside, running, throwing balls and bouncing on a trampoline. The third big thing that happened is that they went to the pumpkin patch for the first time with Grandma and Grandpa Hoefs on Saturday morning (mom and dad went to the Husker football game). They got to pick pumpkins, play in a big pile of corn, "milk" a "cow" (it was a fake cow that water came out of), look at goats and do all sorts of fun fall activities. They had fun, and came home tired! The pictures of them are with the pumpkins that they brought home from the patch. We are also taking them to on in Omaha in a couple of weeks, so that will be fun.

Grace has herself a sinus infections this week. We just got back from the doctor this morning. She didn't ever have a cold, my personal opinion is that she has allergies. She has been sneezing a lot lately, and I think her stuffiness just got infected. So, we also purchased some baby Claritin and I am hoping that solves some problems. Xander is back to his stuffy nose and sneezing, too. So, we'll see what becomes of that. I really hope we don't have to go back to the doctor with him again.

The whining is only marginally better, because they feel better. But, there is still plenty of it to go around, though. The latest thing we are working on is saying/signing "sorry". After they sit in time-out (usually for biting), I am making them hug the person they bit and say "sorry". So, far, they hug well, and I help them sign sorry. I'm hoping they start feeling a little remorse and do it themselves. We'll see. Lots of new words lately, including "pumpkin", "jacket", "thank you" (all three say it now), "teddy", and "off/on". We are having another exciting week, that includes hosting a playgroup here on Thursday. I'll post about that next week. That's all!

Bloopers!

I don't have any new pictures to share this week, so I will share a couple of bloopers from last week's park pictures. Kara was trying to get a picture of them all smiling through the little window at the playground. It was impossible. She snapped these 3 pictures before we just gave up. It is nearly impossible to get 3 toddler to hold still and smile at the same time to get a picture on a slow camera! Of course, once we started putting Will back behind the window, it became a game to run away and get chased to be hauled back. Oh toddlers!!!

Well, the latest development in our house (and has been for about a month now) is whining. There is almost constant whining by someone in this house. They have been whining about most everything, when they can't do something, when someone takes what is theirs, when they are bored/hungry/tired, want something, etc. It is getting very annoying! We are trying the ignoring technique and praising when they use their words or don't whine about it. So far, no change, really. I'll let you know. We are still having tantrums, but they typically don't last long. I say Typically because Xander threw a good 20 min tantrum during our dinner the other night. He accidentally got a hold of a potato chip off the table and he loved it. When we wouldn't let him have another one, he freaked out and screamed for a long time. Who knew a sour cream and onion potato chip could be so important!

They are all finally healthy, which is a good thing. No trip to the doctor for Grace, the boys finished their antibiotics, which helped tremendously and the Singulair seems to be working for Will with minimal side effects. Our follow-up appointment at the NICU went well, sort of. The actual part with the doctor was fine. She thinks they are doing great and had no suggestions for me of things they need to work on. The part that was not fine was being in a new place, with new people. Will just doesn't like that. Xander and Grace warmed up right away and started doing the things she needed. It took Will about 15 mins to finally do anything she wanted him to. I am getting really frustrated with this behavior. He seems to take a while to warm up to just about anyone and it's very limiting. We can't leave them in the nursery at church without someone they know, and forget about going anywhere else that I would leave them in a daycare kind of situation. If anyone has any suggestions, I would take them!

Other than that, things are fine. One nap seems to be sufficient, most of the time. Some evenings they are incredibly tired, others not. If they would sleep 2 1/2 hours or longer, they would be fine. On days that they don't, then we're in trouble! We have been enjoying lots of walks and park time lately, because the weather is cooling off. We love cooler weather! Being outside seems to help with the grumps! We're seeing lots of extended family this weekend, so we should have neat pictures to post next week. Later!

To the Park and 20 months!

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It's been a long week in our house! Mostly due to the illness that Will and Xander had. They just weren't fighting off their colds, and unfortunately they both ended up with sinus infections and wheezy, congested lungs. So, after two separate trips to the doctor, we got two sets of antibiotics, instructions for nebulizer treatments for both and Will is trying out a new asthma medicine called Singulair. (So far so good for that one.) They both are doing tons better this week and Grace didn't really get it too bad. Some coughing and sneezing, but she seems OK.

Saturday, the kids got a taste of a large group of kids in the house. We hosted our Young Couples group from church here to watch the football game. There were about 15 kids and 15 adults here. Grace enjoyed watching the bigger kids play, the boys were pretty shy and just played around the smaller babies. But, all in all, it was a fun time. We went to the park on Saturday night, that's where Aunt Kara took the pictures.

The bottom picture is of Grace after her first haircut. If you've ever seen her with her hair down, you know that this is a huge improvement. It was very wild and crazy and now it's only sort of wild and crazy. The boys also got much needed haircuts, and cried the whole time. Grace is used to people messing with her hair, and didn't cry at all.

They are talking tons lately. Babbling, repeating everything they hear us say and saying the words they already know a lot. Their newest thing is "up, up, up". When they want us to pick them up, or when they want to crawl on the couch or, this morning, when they wanted me to stand up and get out of their way. They repeat so many things we say, it's pretty funny to hear yourself in stereo! One nap is going sort of better. The earlier bed time is helping. They still aren't sleeping as long in the afternoon as they need. Hopefully, this will continue to improve. Their latest food development is that they like eating cereal, the way it was intended, in a bowl with milk. They've only done is a few time, but so far so good. They liked it. We go back to the hospital tomorrow for our 18 month developmental screen, so I'll post news about that next week.

Coloring!

It's been a busy week around here. We've done lots, been lots of places and done lots of new things. It was great that Brian had Friday and Monday off, so we got to spend lots of daddy time! The triplets went garage saleing with aunt Kara and I on Friday morning. They were so good and even got a new kitchen set, complete with food and dishes out of the trip. We ate dinner out on Friday night, then mommy went and scrapbooked at a store with a friend. Saturday, we watched the first football game at Dale and Ellen's, then went out to dinner again (and the triplets were very good!). Sunday, we decided to stay home from church. They've all had colds and diarrhea, and we decided not to subject the other children in the nursery to their germs. We did however, run errands to the grocery store and Home Depot. After a good afternoon nap, they "helped" us wash our cars. They mostly ran around holding their big sponges and slipping on the wet concrete. But, the cars are clean and they had fun, that's all that counts. Monday, they spent the morning at Grandma Pam's and ate lunch there. You can see from the pictures they have been doing things like coloring around the house. With more awake time, we have to come up with new things to pass the hours. They are also really enjoying puzzles, playing with their new kitchen and walking to the new Super Target that is open by our house.

Other than the illnesses, there is no real news. Sad to say that Will's bad cough is back and he's on his 5th day of nebulizer treatments. If it doesn't improve, we're going to the doctor this week. Xander probably is the sickest. He has a terrible runny nose, cough and fever. Plus several days of diarrhea. Poor thing just isn't getting enough sleep with only one nap. So, we've changed their naptime to 8:00 and that seems to be helping. They get a little extra sleep, and are still waking up at the same time in the morning. Their one nap a day is usually between 2 and 3 hours, but there have been a couple 1 hr and 20 minute days (and let me tell you, I do not like those.) They aren't really saying any new words. Will has finally caught up in terms of number of words to his siblings. He can say everything they can say. Xander has started saying/signing thank you. It comes out "ta-too" and he waves his arm around (trying to sign it). It's pretty funny. He doesn't do it spontaneously, though. Only when you say "say thank you" or he hears an adult say it. Our fall schedule with piano lessons, choirs and everything else starts up this week. It's sure to be a busy one! More later!